Silo-stave mold.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC.

MELVIN G. EDINGTON, 0F LYONS, AND CHARLES W. CAMPBELL, OF BICKNELLINDIANA.

SILO-STAVE MOLD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 191.5.

To all who 1n it may concern Be it known that we, MELVIN G. EDING- TON,residing at Lyons, Greene county, Indiana, and CHARLES W. CAMPBELL,residing at Bicknell, Knox county, Indiana, both citizens of the UnitedStates, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Silo- StaveMolds, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, durableand easily operated mold for forming the staves of silos with suitablebeveled vertical edges to conform to the cylindrical shape of the wallto be made from them, and to provide longitudinal grooves for lockingpurposes in said beveled edges, and also corresponding grooves in thetop and bottom edges of the staves.

A further object of the invention is to provide a separable mold whichis adapted to fully release the product for removal from the mold, andto provide suitable indentures for securely gripping the finished stavewhile handling it during the construction of the silo.

We accomplish the above and other objects which will hereinafter appear,by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichFigure 1 is a top plan view of our silo stave mold in position toreceive the material for molding the stave. Fig. 2 is a View in sideelevation of same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 41 is a side view of one of the locking barsdetached from the other parts of the mold, and Fig. 5 is a verticalcross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews of the drawing.

The fiat bottom or base 6 of the mold is provided with a fixed verticalend 7 and opposing sides 8 and 9 which afiord suitable stops andbearings for the removable mold members. The vertical side members 10have their inner ends in contact with the end 7 and their opposite endspreferably project sufficiently beyond the bottom 6 to afford suitablehand-holds for securely grasping them for placing and removal.

A pair of transverse mold members 11 and 12 extend at suitable distancesfrom each other, depending upon the length of the stave, between the twoside members 10, and the outward movement of the members 11 and 12 isprevented by bearing blocks 13 which are fastened rigidly to the members10, and the members 10 are held firmly against the ends of the members11 and 12, during the operation of molding, by the removable lockingbars 14. These latter are of suitable proportions to make a closesliding fit between the sides 8 and 9 and their re spective adjacentmold members 10, and in assembling the mold for use, after the parts 10,11 and 12 are positioned as shown in Fig. 1, the locking bars 14 arethen pushed down between the members 10 and their re spective holdingsides 8 and 9. The inner ends of locking bars 11 are intended to contactwith the end 7 and the opposite ends of said bars are provided withundercuts 15, for a suitable distance in from said ends, to affordfinger grasping spaces below, or in other words to provide a convenienthandle 16 for placing but more particularly for removing said lockingbars.

All of the parts thus far described are preferably made out of wood andare thoroughly impregnated with oil to prevent the absorption ofmoisture by them during the application of the wet material from whichthe silo staves are made. The silo stave will be formed out of materialswhich are well known and commonly used for such purposes, and which areintroduced into the mold in a plastic condition resulting from thepresence of an excess of water at that initial period.

The inner sides of the members 10 are covered with sheet metal 16,preferably galvanized iron, the upper and lower edges of which are bentto horizontal planes and overlap the top and bottom edges of the members10, and are secured to the latter by nails 17. The sheet metal walls 16are oblique to each other, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, for the purposeof giving the re quired bevel or miter to the vertical edges of thefinished stave necessary to cause the staves to fit together properlywhen assembled in the cylindrical walls of a silo.

As we prefer to form the staves with longitudinal V-shaped grooves intheir vertical edges to assist in assembling them b the introduction ofan improved clip of our invention therein, and also to increase themortar-space or bond, we provide a correelements, and

spondingly V-shaped rib or corrugation 18, extending longitudinally ofthe wall 16, as shown. Thisis formed by pressing thesheet metal into thedesired shape.

The ends 11 and 12 are likewise covered on their inner faces with sheetmetal. having turned edges which are secured to the edges of thecorresponding ends by nails 17. The sheet metal wall 19- for the end 12is provided with a V-shaped corrugation 20, similar to the V-shapedcorrugation 18 of the side walls 16, and is for the purpose of forming aV-Shap'ed channel in the end of the stave. The sheet metal wall 21 forthe end 11 is provided with an inturned V- shaped corrugation 22, forthe purpose of forming an angular projection or rib on the lower end ofthe stave, which rib will be seated in the groove in the top of thestave below when the latter are assembled in the silo. Both ends of thecorrugation 22 are filled in past the walls 16 so as to keep the plasticmaterial of the stave being formed, from leaking out through said cor-'rugation, and also shortening the resulting rib on the stave, at eachend, whereby a better bond is secured in the silo wall.

The bottom, or pallet 6 of the mold is provided with a conicalprojection 23 which forms an indent 1n the finished stave to provide ahold for grasping-irons in handl-ing the stave in laying the silo walls.

Assuming the mold to be in the position shown in the drawings, ready toreceive the plastic material to be formed into a stave, it is filled toa level with the topedges or above and'the excess is scraped off byusing the top ofthe mold as a guide to the scraper. The locking bars, 1aare then withdrawn on each side of the mold, which releases the sidemembers 10. The latter are then separated from the product, and may beremoved desircd, or allowed to remain against their respective outsidewalls 8 and 9. This leaves the ends 11 and 12 released and they areremoved and the newly molded silo stave is thus freed from the mold andcan be taken therefrom and dried in the usual manner. i While we havedescribed our invention with more or less minuteness as regards detailsof construction and arrangement and as being embodied in certain preciseforms, we do not desire to be limited thereto unduly or any more than ispointed out in the claims. On the contrary, we contemplate all properchanges in form, construction, and arrangement, the omission ofimmaterial the substitution of equivalents, as circumstances may suggestor necessity render expedient.

1. In a silo stave mold, a pallet having Copies of this patent metalwalls of the end members having longitudinal' middle corrugations one ofwhich is turned inwardly toward the adjacent end member and the other ofwhich'is turned away from the adjacent end wall and looking meansbetween each pair of said fixed and removable side members.

2'. In a silo stave mold, a pallet having two fixed sides and anintermediate upward projection, a pair of removable wooden side Imembers, a pair of removable wooden end sheet members between said sidemembers, metal inner walls for each of said inner side and end members,the metal walls of the side" members being oblique to the adjacent sidemembers resulting in inward projections forming inner stops for said endmembers, outside stops on the removable side members for said removableend members, and locking means between each pair of fixed and removableside members.

3. In a silo stave mold, a pallet having two fixed sides and a fixed endand an intermediate upward projection, a pair of removable wooden sidemembers, a pair of removable wooden end members between said removableside members, sheet metal inner walls for each of said inner side andend members, the metal walls of the side members being oblique to theadjacent side members andliaving middle inwardly extending corrugationsand the end members having middle corrugations, one of which extendsinwardly and the other outwardly, the'inward projections ofsaid sidemetal walls forming inner stops for said wooden end embers, outsidestops on the removable side in mbers forsaid end members, and lockingmeansbetween each pair of said fixed and remoy'able side members.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals at Lyons,Indiana, this 31st day of March, A. D. one thousand nine hundred andfourteen.

MELVIN G. EDINGTON. CHARLES W. CAMPBELL.

[L. s.] [n

may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofPatents.

Washington, D. C.

